


Someone who's making no demands on me

by CookieDoughMe



Category: Firefly, Haven (TV)
Genre: At the moment this first chapter is all that's written, Haven characters in the Firefly/Serenity 'verse, M/M, and I have written the ending - so that pretty much guarantees I'll finish it, but I do have plans for another few thousands words worth, eventually, just don't expect updates to any kind of regular schedule
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 22:03:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15300981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe
Summary: So basically this is fic founded on one simple concept: Duke Crocker as a Companion.I have a rough idea how the whole fic will go; perhaps posting this will prompt me to write the rest of it :)





	Someone who's making no demands on me

It was a hot and dusty day in Haven and the bustling weekly market was in full swing. The town's blacksmith shrugged a bag of goods back onto his shoulder and stepped one foot heavily in front of the other, moving slowly through the crowd. He'd bought most of what he needed; just one stop left to make.

As he made his way to the final stall, someone called out to him. It was one of the few people on this moon he could stand to talk to, but he had wanted to get all of his errands done before he stopped to chat.

“Nathan!” she called to him again.

He gave in and turned to meet her as she walked towards him. “Sheriff,” he greeted. 

“Town meeting next week,” she told him.

“I heard,” he agreed.

“So you'll be there?” she asked hopefully.

“I'll be there.”

“Great, thanks. That’s at least the two of us then,” she said with a wry smile. Trying to instill an enthusiasm for law and order into people who had more urgent things to think about wasn't always easy. Haven was much better off than some of the border planets, but people still had to work hard to get by, and most had enough experience with the Alliance to leave them with a general distrust of law enforcement.

Nathan dropped the heavy canvas bag on the dust at his feet. “It's not that folks don't care. They're just …”

“Busy. Yeah I know. Gotta try though, right?” the Sheriff said. She had never quite got to the bottom of why Nathan felt differently, but she was glad of his support all the same.

Nathan nodded and might have offered more of a reply, but as he wiped the sweat out of his eyes with the back of his hand, his gaze settled on someone gliding through the crowd a few stalls over. Gliding really was the only word; the man moved with a grace both natural and studied, but it wasn't only that. He was dressed in an exquisitely fitted suit, several orders of magnitude cleaner and more colourful than the practical and well-worn garments anyone else in sight owned. The crowd parted before him, most of them just as stunned at the sight as Nathan.

The Sheriff had known the town's blacksmith for a few years now, and though he wasn't the most talkative of men, they got on and she felt that she knew him pretty well. She felt that she had an idea of what he was missing in his life, and of his taste in men. When she saw the way he was looking at the man walking towards them, she knew she had been right, on that last point at least. Not that it had been much of a reach; there probably were not many people alive who would disagree with him.

“Since when does Haven have anything to attract a companion?” Nathan wondered.

She turned to him to reply, but as she hesitated the man had the chance to join them and he answered Nathan's question himself. 

“Since said Companion hears interesting things about the local population,” he said, and bent to dot a kiss on the Sheriff's cheek. “Sheriff Parker, how absolutely lovely to see you.”

Her smile widened, “Duke, I wasn't sure you'd make it. Nathan this is Duke Crocker. Duke, this is Nathan, town blacksmith.”

“Pleased to meet you Nathan,” said Duke and held out an impeccably manicured hand.

Nathan shook it, but hesitantly.

“You're wondering how I heard your question to the Sheriff from back there, through all the noise of the market.”

Nathan's eyebrows shot up a couple of inches and he nodded.

“Lip reading. Sorry, it's a bad habit.”

“They teach you that at Companion school?”

Duke laughed, surprised. “No,” he admitted.

“Not all of Duke’s habits are bad ones,” the Sheriff cut in with a twinkle in her eye.

Nathan felt like he was two steps behind the conversation, and missing some important piece of information. “You engaged a companion?” he asked her, surprised. A Sheriff's wage was enough to get by, but a Companion? “Sorry!” he quickly added. “None of my business, I should….”

The Sheriff laughed, and Duke assured him, “I'm not here on business. I was thinking of a vacation and my old friend the Sheriff here told me that Haven had certain ... attractions I might be interested in.”

Duke’s gaze ran over Nathan as he drew out the word attractions, but Nathan seemed oblivious to the implication. The Sheriff looked at Duke in a way which said, Told you.

Duke saw the look and added for good measure, “Of course it wasn't until she showed me a photo of you that I decided to come.”

“I… what? But that’s… I can't pay you,” Nathan finished awkwardly.

“Duke owes me a favour from way back. No money changed hands,” Audrey told him. Nathan did not seem to know whether he thought this made things better or worse.

“Besides like I said; I'm on vacation,” Duke added. “And if I choose to get to know a friend of a friend while I'm here, then I will still be on vacation, no payment required.”

The sheriff grinned at him. “Just as long as he's still in one piece for the town meeting next week,” she said.

“Week?” asked Nathan surprised.

“My ride out of here doesn't leave for a week,” explained Duke.

“I'm not sure…” began Nathan.

“You will be,” replied Duke, with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

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